Audible signaling device



C. SCHROEDER- AUDIBLE SIGNALING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4. 1919.

1,337,277. Patented A r. 20,1920.

CHARLES sonnonnna, or nnitrsvitnn, WISCONSIN.

AUDIBLE SIGNALING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

Application filed November 4, 1919. Serial No. 335,687.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES Scrrnonnnn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Neillsville, in the county of Clarlr and State of Visconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Audible Si naling Devices; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in audible signals, particularly those which are adapted to create a large volume of sound, for instance those being adapted to take the place of fog horns and similar sounding devices.

The primary object of he invention is to provide a means of a very simple nature having a relatively few number of parts which will not readily get out of order, and which will produce a sound of maximum volume and penetration wi h comparatively little effort.

The invention is capable of being built in various sizes to accommodate it for use under different conditions, and many minor changes may be made in the form and proportions particularly in the principal operating parts, without departing from or sacrificing any of the principles as set forth in the following description and claims.

One embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the accompanying drawing wherein it will be noted that Figure 1 represents a central sectional view of the device.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken substantially on the plane of the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, it will be seen that my improved device is mounted upon a suitable supporting frame 1, the same preferably including a pair of side bars between which a sound bOX or casing 2 is secured. The nature of the frame will obviously be changed in accordance with the use to which the signaling device is put. Likewise the sound box 2 may be of various designs,'the form illustrated consisting of a, relatively flat circular casing, the flat sides of which are riveted, or otherwise attached to the side bars of the frame 1; and the annular wall thereof is provided with an opening 3.

The sound created within the casing by means to be presently described finds a means of escape therefrom through this opening 3, a large portion of which is covered by an arcuate plate 4:. This cover plate has a nipple 5 in which is received the reduced end of a megaphone 6. In the formation of the sound box 2 annular beads 7 are provided around the edges thereof, and th'ose portions of the beads adjacent the opening 3 form guides for the turned-over edges 8 of the cover plate 4:. As seen from Fig. 2 the cooperation between these beads and the turned-over edges 8 is such as to permit the cover plate to be slid around the annular wall of the sound box so as to uncover the opening 3, access thus being had to the interior.

Extending transversely through the sound box 2 and centrally of the fiat walls thereof is a shaft 9, the opposite ends thereof being journaled in bearings 10 carried by the side bars of the frame 1. The shaft provides a rotatable support for a plurality of radially extending contact members which, in the present form of the invention consist of rectangular contact plates 11. Each contact plate is held in a pair of plate receiving heads 12-, each of which is carried by a bolt 13. In practice the heads 12 form the heads of said bolts 13, the latter being threaded in openings in a sleeve 14, the same being fixed to said shaft 9.

The contact plates each extend transversely of the sound box 2, that is to say lon itudinally of the shaft 9, and are likewise positioned radially with respect to the latter. As the shaft 9 is revolved, one longitudinal edge portion of each contact plate is successively brought into engagement with pairs of soundin fingers 15. These fingers are likewise positioned radially of the shaft 9, but the ends thereof adjacent thereto are free, they being adjustably supported at their opposite ends from a transverse supporting bar 16. This latter element projects through the sound box 2 and has its opposite ends bolted or otherwise attached to the side bars of the supporting frame 1. I preferably use two pairs of sounding fingers, said pairs being diametrically opposed as is readily seen from the drawing.

Attention is directed to the fact that a very simply constructed, but nevertheless a very efficient method of securing the contact members and the sleeve 14; to the shaft 9 forms an important feature of the invention. That is to say the openings in the sleeve into which the bolts 13 are threaded extend entirely through the same so that said bolts may engage the shaft 9. Thus each of the bolts is threaded through the sleeve 14 until its inner end engages the shaft 9, the slots in the heads 12 of each adjacent pair being thereupon alined and a contact plate 11 seated therein. Bolts 17 extend through the heads and the contact plates carried thereby so as to secure the same against movement.

The shaft 9 may be rotated by hand or mechanically, the present case illustrating a manually operated device. The shaft is provided with a pinion 18 which is meshed with a drive gear 19 keyed to a stub shaft 20. This shaft is journaled in a bearing 21 on one of the side bars of the frame 1 and is operable by a hand-crank 22. Inasmuch as it is desirable to revolve the shaft 9 at a high speed and engage the contact plates with the sounding fingers at short intervals, the speed ratio between the pinion 18 and the gear 19 is relatively 1 to 8 or greater.

I claim:

1. A sounding device comprising a sound box having an opening therein to provide access to the interior thereof, a cover plate slidable across said opening and normally closing the same, said plate having a sound opening, and a sound producing means in said box.

2. A sounding device comprising a sound box having an annular wall provided with an opening to permit access to the interior thereof, guides on the opposite edges of the wall adjacent said opening, an arcuate cover plate slidably connected with the guides for normally closing said opening, said plate having a sound opening, and sound producing means in said box.

A sounding device comprising a sound box having an opening therein to provide access to the'interior thereof, a cover plate slidable across said opening and normally covering the same, said plate having a sound opening, sound magnifying means carried by said plate, and a sound producing means means in said box.

4 A sounding device comprising a casing, a sounding finger carried by the casing, a rotary shaft in the casing, a sleeve disposed on said shaft and having a plurality of pairs of bolt openings, a pair of bolts disposed in each pair of bolt openings and engaged with the shaft, the heads of said bolts being slotted, the slots of each adjacent pair of heads being alined, a contact plate in each alined pair of slots, and means for successively engaging the plates with the finger.

In testimony that I claim the foregone: l have hereunto set my hand at Neillsvil in the county of Clark and State of Wi consin.

CHARLES sonnonnnn. 

